Part 3
They drove in silence. Arohi was feeling much better after talking to him. She had spoken to her family and friends, but today she needed some one and arjun was there. She had noticed that he was a gentleman and the way he patiently listened to her made her calm down herself. Arohi suddenly moved her hand to her neck. Arjun caught this from the corner of his eye since there was a sudden motion. Arohi took off her mangalsutra and put it in her purse. She left out a loud sigh like all that she was holding back was released in it. He gave her a concerned look. She smiled, it was a happy smile, a smile of relief. He tried to find any hint of sadness in her eyes, but whatever he had been seeing since few days was not there anymore. He automatically smiled back. One more was left to do with that chain , arohi thought and saw they were approaching the apt. complex she stayed in. 'Why dont you come in for a while Arjun' she told him, 'no some other time, take care arohi, good night' he left.
Reaching home arjun sat with a fall on the couch. He put his face in his hands to calm himself. He had appeared to be very composed in front of Arohi. The last action she did in the car had actually broken his heart, even though her marriage had ended gracefully, it had ended that made him sad. He remembered the happy and loud Arohi that he knew. Tears rolled down his eyes. If only he was there for her during all this. Here he was thinking she was all right and happy and there she was going through emotional turmoil of not knowing what to do. He was angry at her husband. Whether he did it for his love for other girl or for his parents he was wrong in marrying Arohi when he had no intention of committing to the marriage. He kicked the small stool he usually used to stretch his leg on.
Next day at work arohi behaved normally. But arjun was not able to. how much ever he tried he was not able to forget that arohi has been crying silently for past two years. There are worse cases where women are subjected to emotional and physical abuse, arohi's may not be as cruel as those but for him it was equally damaging. Arohi noticed this silence from him. She was not sure what to infer. They usally did not speak to each other too much while working, but today arjun was more silent than ever. After she had reached home the previous night she felt relieved , sharing her feelings with someone felt better. She had put all the jewelry and gift she recd in her wedding in a box and left it at her inlaws before leaving them. The only piece left was the chain and she was going to send it to them. In the morning before reaching the office she had mailed it without return address. She felt a huge burden had been lifted off her. How silly a woman thinks sometimes she had laughed at herself.
Saahil had come to talk to arjun at lunch hour. As soon as he asked Arjun left with him. Arohi watched him leave. Since the day before, he had noticed that she hadnot eaten, she had planned on sharing her lunch with him. She wanted to show her gratitude for being a good listener last night. But arjun who doesnt go out usually as far as she knows, had to go out the day she planned to eat with him. 'Guess I am still as silly' she thought and ate from her box alone. Saahil saw arjun to be dull. 'is anything wrong?' he asked him. 'no nothing, I am ok' arjun replied. 'But you dont seem to be, if you were allright you wouldnot have come out as soon as I asked, you prefer to savour your boxed lunch, your own culinary experiments' 'it is just slight headache, and FYI my culinary skills are tolerable' 'allright I will believe that'. After a while he said again 'you have to move on you know, I am aware you dont like talking about it, you did not even tell me the name, but I know how much lost you are inside and it is time you reconsider your stand'. Arjun just gave a look to Saahil. 'okay okay I understood, you are in line to join the list of Amar Premis, God bless you'. That made Arjun laugh. 'thank for the honour, atleast you smiled'. Arjun concentrated on his food, but it was clear to saahil that he was disturbed. He knew Arjun well. When he came back from Poona Saahil was astonished to see Arjun's face which reflected his heart's condition. Like always he had to make arjun talk, and this time without much effort he came to know that the girl Arjun loved got married. It hurt him to see his friend sad. How much ever arjun had tried to act normal, Saahil could make out he wasnt. He made arjun come with him to Delhi and soon they became collegues. This time too he felt Arjun had hit something hard and it has disturbed him. But now he wont be able to make him tell what is bothering because Arjun was not so vulnerable anymore. 'saahil what would you do, if someone you deeply cared for has gone through a sad phase' Arjun's question brought him back. 'going thru? gone through?' 'gone through' 'I would console the person and assure everything will be allright and tell I am there to take care' 'right' 'who are you talking about' '---' 'is it very personal?' 'it is not mine, it is someone's personal life, so' 'okay, I understand'. After lunch Arjun told saahil he didnot feel like coming back to work, he dropped saahil off outside the office and called his boss to tell he wasnt feeling well, and went home.
Arohi saw Saahil walking in. She thought Arjun will soon follow. Even after an hour he did not come, she went to Saahil's desk 'arjun didnot come back?' 'no, he wasnt feeling well, took off early'. She paused for a few seconds 'what happened, is he too unwell?' 'he said he has a headache, looked like he wanted to be alone, that is not new, so' 'okay, thanks for telling me' she went back. Going back to her seat, she could not help but look at the empty seat beside her, 'hope he is feeling better now' she thought. That she thought few more times before the day ended. Next day Arjun was back and he was much better. Seeing him in his normal mode made Arohi and Saahil too relieved. Arohi enquiring about how he was feeling now made Arjun the happiest man for the day.
Time heals anything. As days went by Arjun and Arohi started to get more friendly. days turned into weeks and weeks into months. She had found a good friend in him. She could count on him and knowing that he had not told a soul about what she had shared, she developed a kind of respect for him. She thought arjun to be the most strong yet sensitive man she had ever seen. His shortcoming had not stopped him from achieving his goals. She found that inspiring. The moral support he had given to her was working wonders for her and she had developed the positive attitude again. She missed him if he did not come for a day. She brought extra lunch many times and felt happy if he found it tasty. Arjun was comfortable around her. She was looking more happier than before and that satisfied him. Her happiness made him happy and that reflected on his face, which in turn made her happy. Slowly Arjun was overcoming the fact that she had gone through a failed marriage and started to see how much better she is feeling now. It started to give him new hopes. The love he had kept buried for two years started to spurt again. He did little things expressing it without his knowledge. He waited for her to eat lunch. He made sure she went out of office before him. If she stayed back he stayed back. He helped her in her work. He stopped trying to not limp in front of her. He was sure she did not think it as a major shortcoming and that gave him confidence. These did not go unnoticed by Arohi. But she could still see love in his eyes and off late she felt it had intensified, that bothered her for some reason. She chided herself for that, if he loves some girl so much why is she feeling bothered. She felt bad that he could not get his love. She wondered how special that girl would have been that Arjun loved her so much. As she focussed on that another thing started to occur to her, if Arjun can love the girl still even after he knows she is married and he cannot have her, then how special Arjun must be. One thought led to another, without her knowledge Arjun occupied her thoughts most of the time. She observed his little habits, his mannerisms, his likes and dislikes.
She was not sure of what she was feeling. But it was something that she had not felt before. She was going back to the arohi she was. Her memories were now filled with her life in Poona. The bad memories of past two years were fading away. It was when during a conversation with her cousin she realised what she feeling. That morning at tea her cousin cum roommate , Shefali, asked her 'who is Arjun?' 'you know him' 'I know, but what is he to you?' 'Arjun? my friend and colleague' 'just that?' 'yeah' 'hmmm so your colleague comes in your dreams?' 'what? I .. no.. what are you talking about?' 'my dear you said Arjun twice in your sleep'. Arohi cheeks were red immediately, 'nooo, no way, why would I do that, I mean...' 'dont sweat it honey, I understand' 'what did you understand?' 'that I heard wrong' Shefali said rolling her eyes. They kept quiet for a while. 'did I really do that' arohi asked meekly. 'so he not just a colleague' Shefali asked. 'he is a good friend' 'then it is ok, sometimes we utter friend's name in sleep' Shefali wrote it off, that somehow did not appeal to Arohi. She wanted to hear more from Shefu. 'Shefu, I myself dont know what I am feeling' 'Arohi, all I know is off late you are looking very happy, you sing, you hum, you are cheerful and if you have noticed you are talking about Arjun a lot, almost every other sentence you take his name'. Arohi was finding it hard to say no to it. Her heart quivered with each word Shefali was saying.
A sweet sensation, one that she had not felt before rocked her heart. Seeing the changes happening in Arohi's face, Shefali cupped her dear cousin's face and said 'Aru, you are in love'. Happy and dense tears filled Arohi's eyes, which was replaced by doubt and fear again. 'It can't be true shefu, Love? isnt that a strong feeling, me in love? do I have that capability of testing the time again?' 'again? when did you fall in love before to question 'again' ?' . It was true, she had never been in love before, how would she possibly know how being in love feels. 'Arohi, you realise you are caring deeply for this man, that is the reason you are talking and thinking about him so much'. Remembering Arjun's face Arohi blushed, she felt her heart fill with the same sweet sensation that choked her, 'see it is so clear' shefali said with a smile. 'But Arjun? he loves someone very deeply' Arohi's face fell once again. Shefali did not know much but she knew that whatever it was, was his past. 'that doesnot mean he will never move on. You can be bring that change in him. your love can make him fall in love with you' 'but what about me, I am a divorcee, why will he even feel that for me' 'you yourself told many times that he is a broad minded person, a sensitive and strong man. why do you think negative, your marraige is past now, he knows that, you have told him and he has been supportive. Being divorcee does not make you someone that nobody might want. If you dont persue you might miss out on a possible happy life you can get'. Shefali's words gave new courage to Arohi, new hopes plus Arjun's thoughts that were constantly flooding her made her accept the fact that , indeed , a new change has occured. She hugged shefali. 'Aru, it is time for you to experience the real happiness'. Arohi smiled too. It was starting to drizzle outside. Arohi exclaimed 'how I love this early morning rain' 'yeah, for those who are in love everything looks lovely, Me, I am worried that my shoes and dress will get wet' 'hello ji, once you start teasing you wont stop' arohi affectionately complained about shefu. Shefu's habit of using hello ji to people, had made arohi nickname her as hello ji.
The drizzle became rain. Arohi's pink cheeks were becoming red while shefali's you are in love words reeled through. . The blush was still there in her cheeks. 'oye hoye, look at you, you are all blushing vashing, and you are feeling warm too' she winked. 'dhatt' arohi hit her arm. Shefali started to tease her more 'Saawan jo aag lagaye , aag woh kaun bhujaaye, ... Saawan jo aag lagaye use... Saajan ka pyaar bhujaye..use saajan ka pyaar bhujaaye'. Arohi was beyond blushing, she was truly bruning with the new found feeling, she came to hit shefali again, but instead kissed her cheeks and ran inside her room to get ready, to meet arjun, oops to get ready to go to work...
Part 4
Jhanak
Shiv Shakti
